Non-profits and FSLA
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I just got off the phone with FSLA and was surprised at the answer I received. Did anyone know that if you are a non-profit, to be eligible for OT pay, you must have some form of out-of-state commerce and this is based on each EE. In other words, if the receptionist gets an out-of-state phone call and works 40+ hours for that week she is entitled to OT, but if the bookkeeper does not do any type of out-of-state commerce that week and works 50 hours, she is not entitled to OT. This is a week by week, EE by EE, requirement. Am I the only one that had no clue about this? x:-/
Comments
Sounds like I have some research to do.
By the way - it's FLSA, Fair Labor Standards Act.
GENO
You might find the attached links of interest. GENO
[url]http://www.advantagepayroll.com/accountants/erguide4.asp[/url]
[url]http://www.twc.state.tx.us/news/efte/flsa_most_common_pitfalls.html[/url]
1) You misunderstood the government employee.
2) The government employee is untrained and wrong.
3) I don't know what I'm talking about.
Best wishes.
There are lots of changes to be made when you make this transition. Non-profits need the for profit mentality in many areas, HR included. I would suggest you get your list of changes together and prioritize them. Spend some time building up trust banks with the various shakers and movers in your company, and establish a relationship with a good HR attorney. It took some time to find one for us, but we got one who even discounts her rate significantly just because of who we are.
This person can do great things for you with respect to top level trainings in areas like harassment, ADA, FMLA. Having outside confirmation of your teachings will help cement your credibility.
Then tackle those areas like the timecards. We don't use a clock either, just an excel spreadsheet with both EE and supervisor sign-off on the way to payroll. At least you have a signature. Then supervisor becomes aware of signing off on hours claimed - this leads to attendance and tardiness policies. A very touch area.
Finally, going back a couple of years to estimate unpaid overtime can be an interesting exercise. In our case, no-one had any records to determine if OT was even worked, so when we made the transition to properly tracking hours and properly classifying exempt and non-exempt, we did not have additional costs. Just a couple of examples of big fines and payments assessed against local employers for not properly paying OT was enough to get the boards attention.
Then tackle the handbook. I am sure your eyes will be wide with surprise and dismay when you work you way through it.
AT the end of each day, the rewards working in a non profit are incredible - but not necessarily included in your paycheck. I would not trade them in.